Just When I Think...

That my life seems to be settling down...it doesn't.

We have been having ongoing problems with our van. We have put more money into fixing it in the last year than the whole silly thing is worth. This van worked well until the year 2006, coincidentally when it turned 5 years old. That was the end of our carefree vehicle days. Since then we have plugged thousands of dollars into this beast with so very little payoff. The difficulty lies in that we need the beast. It carries my husband to work every day and it gets us places when it decides it's in a good mood. When it's not in a good mood, look out!

The latest difficulty lay with both the transmission and the replaced engine. The transmission was rebuilt not that long ago. All felt fine, sort of. Then the boys went on their annual fishing trip and it was nothing but headache. So he takes it to the people who did the work. "It's fine" they say and top up the fluids. "It's NOT fine" says my hubby, gritting his teeth all the way to the camp. Hubby's father was also at the camp and since he has a personal connection to the transmission people, he made some calls and convinced them to take another look at our van. Which they did and where they agreed that "yes, there was a problem and it's now fixed." We, ever the skeptics, thought "we'll see". But surprisingly, it was fixed and worked well.

That was last week. At the end of week, hubby found out the guys who had worked (or pretended to work) on our van in the past were cheating their customers (surprise, surprise) and took it one step too far when they cheated hubby's boss. We don't like to wish ill-will on anyone but I have zero respect for businesses that are not straight-up guys and that will charge for any and everything. Hubby had already declared they would never see our business again and now a local business has declared the same thing. Our reasons for not liking them are many but the pressing issue was the ominous jolt or clunk coming from the front end of the van. These guys were supposed to have fixed the problem but apparently didn't.

So here we are at last Sunday. We had a great time visiting family for a much needed and much delayed family Easter get-together. As usual we were the last to leave at around 10 pm and I'm driving. It's dark out and everyone is tuckered out but happy. Until we are climbing a hill and the engine light comes on. Panic is setting in...you know the cold clammy feeling that starts out in the pit of your stomach and unless you hold it together you might just run screaming out of control somewhere. I pseudo-calmly ask hubby, who is sleeping at this moment, what light this is that just appeared? "What light?" spoken in a fearful almost panicky voice. "Uh, that one" I reply, knowing this is going to start a whole host of not-to-be-contemplated responses. "That's the engine light. That's not good" and a big big sigh. "I hate this van. I hate this van. I hate this van" is my rant for the next 10 minutes. Then I start to pray because as is my tendency, when push comes to shove, it is moments like these that drive me to my knees. God is my calmness and endless source of strength and He didn't fail me then either. I'm just praying to get home safely, not having any idea what could be wrong but knowing that anything that has to do with the engine light is never a good thing and is never cheaply fixed. Just as we are heading off the highway, the speedometer goes haywire and I gingerly ask hubby if this is a problem. "No, it does that." Oh. Okay.

What followed was a sleepless, restless but prayerfilled night and I was knew that God would provide and He would get us through this, just like every other thing we've been through. Since the next day was a holiday, we had time to think about what we would do, actions we would take and talked to my sister & brother-in-law who were a source of encouragement and prayer. The next day Hubby drove the van to work, praying all the way, and took it in to the mechanic right next to the guys we declared incompetent. And miracles of miracles, they fixed everything...the ABS malfunction, the engine light mystery (which turned out to be the cheapest fix of all that they fixed) and the "by the way, the struts that were supposedly fixed? Well, they weren't but we'll do them" repair. And though it cost us over $700 we were able to put it on the boss' tab with payments to come out over the next few months. And so for one day, all was truly well with the van.

Until yesterday. Now what? you ask. My thought exactly. Guess? It was the transmission's turn since the transmission and the engine seem to be taking turns failing us. The positive side is that since it is still under warranty this repair would be free (as the last one was). So hubby's dad came to the rescue and drove down to swap vehicles last night and took our van in this morning. And all that was wrong was a loose wire. Which they fixed. Promptly. Which was most likely jarred loose when they looked at it last week.

My gratitude today? That there is answer to prayer. God heard. I know He did. He put people in our path who encouraged us, prayed for us and assisted us as we needed it in the way we needed it. We still need another van for work since ours has more rust spots than is acceptable to the boss. So that is an ongoing prayer. I just am grateful that God cares about us. I still hate it when a vehicle becomes mysteriously off, when I can't trust it to be reliable any more. I fear getting stranded some where with no way to get it fixed. But God is in the present and I can not do anything about my future by worrying needlessly. God provided and He is good and He will continue to be who He is. I am thankful.

Rejoice in the Lord; I will say it again, Rejoice. Be anxious for nothing but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcend all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.